Anna's Water Babies Plan: 10 Free Swimming Lessons!

Fifteen toddlers under four have drowned in Queensland over the past two years, while others have suffered brain injuries from near misses.

Swim Australia’s national chief executive officer Ross Gage described Premier Bligh’s $77.4 million, three-year ‘‘Water Babies’’ plan as adding another layer to the protection offered by pool fencing. ‘‘What the government is doing here is leading Australia and it is a vital thing,’’ Mr Gage said.

Drowning is the now leading cause of accidental death for toddlers in Australia, with 30 per cent of the deaths occurring in Queensland, Premier Anna Bligh says. ‘‘What it is doing is preparing all the Queensland children into a rite of passage into childhood,’’ he said. ‘‘And in a state like this, all children should be able to swim and swim well.’’ Mr Gage said 10 swimming lessons was a good start to preventing a child from drowning. ‘‘There is not going to be an optimum number, but 10 is a fantastic start,’’ Mr Gage said.

Drowning is the now leading cause of accidental death for toddlers in Australia, with 30 per cent of the deaths occurring in Queensland, Premier Anna Bligh said.

"There is not going to be an optimum number, but 10 (lessons) is a fantastic start"

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He said one advantage of running the classes through accredited swim centres was the access to information for parents about fencing and supervision of children around water.He said peak swimming groups understood that cost stopped some families from teaching their children to swim. ‘‘We know that in the swim school environment there are thousands of families who just can’t afford lessons,’’ he said.‘‘There are many who find it hard to scrape together 10 lessons, so this will give them the opportunity to get 20 lessons.’’Mr Gage said peak organisations understood many children drowned in rural areas, in dams and in smaller outdoor pools.e said a modified curriculum was being developed with some accredited trainers, which can be ‘‘in the dam’’ or in the ‘‘home tub’’.

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Premier Anna Bligh said government understood that no policy could remove the threat of childhood drownings completely.‘‘But if we can do something that gives our children confidence and makes them safer in the water, then if we can save lives, then this is an investment worth making,’’ she said.Parents will have to download e-vouchers which they can use at accredited swimming centres from accredited swim instructors.Swim centres will have to have indemnity insurance, instructors will have to accredited, and the swim school will have to have been operating for 12 months before becoming eligible, Ms Bligh said.‘‘Because we don’t want to see fly-by-nighters take advantage of this,’’ she said. Sports Minister Phil Reeves said parents would need to register their child using the child's birth certificate. The State Government had recently begun the process of accrediting swim schools, he said. Ms Bligh said there was a second group of children who were also affected by near tragedies in pools and dams.‘‘We’ve seen another group of families lose a child to drowning, but seen a child end up with a brain injury or a disability as a result of a near miss with a drowning incident.’’The government has in recent years tightened pool fencing legislation in suburban homes.The launch was held at the Mt Gravatt Aquatic Centre at Griffith University, which is in the seat of Mansfield, held by Mr Reeves with a margin of 4.4 per cent.